Cincinnati

For those who appreciate music, recognizing the great artists who work so hard to create it is quite important. Musicians devote their lives to composing passion into impacting melodies that serve to move the soul. To recognize the artist for their work is to let them know we appreciate their gift, and thank them for sharing it. There are many award organizations that exist for this reason, such as the Grammys and Hard Rock, but those only begin to touch on the number of musicians who deserve our gratitude.

Throughout the Civil War, on the bloody battlefields and in the hospitals overflowing with the wounded, many a mortally wounded young soldier left this life looking into the kindly face of a nun from Cincinnati.

“Lord have mercy on his soul,’’ were the last words he heard, and a promise from the woman dressed in black that she would tell his mother that he died bravely.

She was Sister Anthony O’Connell, known throughout the Union Army as “the Angel of the Battlefield.”

Judge S. Arthur Spiegel, one of the longest serving federal judges in Cincinnati history, has died at the age of 94.

Spiegel, a Marine Corps veteran of World War II, was appointed to the U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter. In 1995, Spiegel took senior status, but continued to hear cases.

Several years ago, Spiegel published a memoir of his life called “A Trial on the Merits.” In it, he wrote of his legal career, but also of his time as a Marine, when he flew a single-engine plane into combat.

The NAACP has chosen Cincinnati as the site of its 2016 national convention, an event that will bring nearly 10,000 people to the city – and is likely to draw the 2016 presidential candidates as well.

The NAACP last held its national convention here in 2008, a presidential election year; and it drew then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and GOP nominee John McCain to the Duke Energy Convention Center. 2016, too, is a presidential election year; and the July event can be expected to draw presidential candidates and other national political figures.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has awarded Cincinnati a perfect score on its municipal equality index, which ranks a city based on its record of laws and policies protecting sexual and gender identity. HRC vice president Fred Sainz says Cincinnati is on the “forefront of equality”.

Sainz says in the city can't rest on its laurels; and should continually rededicate itself to making life better for all citizens.